July 31, 2018

Since 2010, Education Cities (formerly named CEE-Trust) has convened and advised city-based education non-profit leaders on strategies for improving public education. Our network members are helping hundreds of thousands of children and families each year access great public schools.

Today, we are announcing that Education Cities is undergoing an evolution that we think will better support local education leaders.

Several staff from Education Cities – including our Founder and CEO, Ethan Gray – are partnering with colleagues from the philanthropic, non-profit, district, charter, and state sectors to create a new non-profit organization called The City Fund.

The City Fund will provide resources and support to city-based leaders striving to improve public education. With expanded expertise and capacity, The City Fund will also continue Education Cities’ strategy of convening and supporting city-based education organizations in a community of practice.

Since some of Education Cities’ core activities will continue through The City Fund, Education Cities will shift its focus to support the development of two new initiatives under the leadership of current Education Cities staff.

Community Engagement Partners (CEP), led by Charles McDonald and Rebecca Weinberg Jones, is building the capacity of education organizations and leaders to partner with their local communities to create and sustain great public schools. CEP expands on the work Charles began as Senior Fellow for Advocacy and Engagement at Education Cities.

Both of these new initiatives will advance the charitable purpose of Education Cities and build upon the foundation laid by Education Cities and its members over the past eight years. We look forward to sharing more updates about all of these exciting projects.